Special Gatherings

Life happens during twenty years as a full-time RVer. Family is part of your life just as it would be if you were landbound. In 1988, I drove 300 miles from where I worked as a cabin girl on the Bar-M Dude Ranch near Pendleton, Oregon, to Republic, Washington, just in time to see Rebecca Minshall Wadlington discover America. This year I RVed from Arizona to Leavenworth, Washington, to watch her graduate with a hug from the Cascade High School principal, who just happens to be her father, Bill.
With Becca’s car rescued from TP and cellophane when she returned from the all-night senior cruise on Lake Chelan, our family of seven caravanned on U.S. Highway 20 over Deception Pass and across Whidbey Island, catching the ferry to Port Townsend for our every-two-year family reunion. We stayed in a Victorian House along Officers’ Row on the parade grounds at Fort Worden State Park. The fort once guarded the entrance to Puget Sound, and is now a National Historic Landmark.

We explored two miles of beach where grandson Will built his own forts and kept us safe. We investigated the Coast Artillery Museum, Commanding Officer’s Quarters, Artillery Batteries, and Point Wilson Lighthouse. We also visited Port Townsend, one of only three U.S. Victorian seaports on the National Registry of Historic Places.

The 1890s housing was stark but fun for playing hide and seek with an 8- and 17-year-old. Having no TV was an added blessing. A 550-piece Grand Canyon puzzle was a progressive creative work nobody could resist adding to until it was finished. Our concession to this century was renting a microwave.

Elk Up Close
Daughters Tracey and Janet, Will and I went to the Sequim Olympic Game Farm. With day-old bread in hand, we proceeded through llama mamas, yakety yaks and one white rhinoceros. The bears reluctantly left their digging to sit up and beg. We avoided getting too close to the buffalo, which have a reputation for sliming car windows. Timber wolves, African lions and Siberian tigers were interesting, but the fun was yet to come.

Male elk with their enormous antlers tried to join us while Tracey frantically maneuvered electric windows of a rental-car she wasn’t familiar with. She helped Will hand out his bread, keeping a persistent elk at bay on his side. Meanwhile, another elk had her head all the way in the driver’s side, ever so gently sniffing Tracey’s hair. Tracey has always had a legendary scream but this time she outdid herself. Janet and I laughed until it hurt. The poor elk may be scarred for life.

Becca, Bill, and Tracey’s husband, Tom, went deep-sea fishing at Westport Charters, a first for Becca and Tom. They each caught their limit but Becca got the first one, a huge lingcod, perhaps with encouragement from the handsome Jason. With the 4 a.m. start, an exciting morning, and the rhythm of a moving car, they all fell asleep, including Bill, who drove the family van into a ditch. Thank God, nobody was hurt. The van was towed to Olympia. Tracey and Janet picked everybody up in the rental van. On the bright side, this was a two-hour chance for a rare “sisters chat.”

On the Beach
Meanwhile, back at the fort (I’ve always wanted to say that), Will and I found a 10-inch beached starfish and later made a scrumptious chocolate shake in my magic machine. He decided it was absolutely delicious and we should market it, so we worked diligently until the family returned, making business decisions. It is amazing to watch an 8-year-old mind at work.

On Wednesday, the Norvelles—Tom, Tracey and Will—toured Bremerton’s USS Turner Joy Naval Memorial Museum Ship. An accommodating bald eagle posed for them while they ate lunch across the street at the Boat Shed. On the way back, they enjoyed Keyport’s Naval Undersea Warfare Center. Chef Bill elicited Becca’s help creating a fish feast using six different recipes for another family gathering around the dining table.

On Thursday, we left Port Angeles on the Victoria Express to Victoria, British Columbia. Rebecca hasn’t quite gotten the hang of keeping her driver’s license with her. Janet had Becca’s birth certificate but they almost didn’t let her across the border without a picture ID. They weren’t concerned with the same about Will. Hmmm. But with both parents present, they allowed her in (and out!).

Beautiful Gardens
The narrated double-decker red buses to Butchart Gardens are always fun. Tracey, the landscape architect, may have taken a few ideas from this 55-acre limestone quarry turned floral paradise. Will found a resident snake living in the rose garden, and on my fourth trip, I still forgot that you don’t buy ice cream at $4.50 for a ridiculously small serving.

Taking a harbor water taxi tour was OK, but it was more fun walking Victoria’s wharf, watching the mime, painted entirely in white, work his audience. After choosing Bill, our shy retiring family member, as a helper, the fire-tossing unicycle rider wondered if he had unearthed some competition.

Friday’s excursion, intended for a ferry trip and the delights of Seattle, was not to be. Tom graciously offered to drive Bill back to Leavenworth with the rental van crammed with as much of our “stuff” as it could hold, and bring my car back to Fort Worden. The rest of the gang visited the fort’s hands-on Marine Science Center. It was pretty exciting actually reaching into the water and touching creatures of the deep and learning about their habitat. That evening, we pigged out on The Pizza Factory’s fare.

Saturday we exchanged early morning hugs and tears to last ‘til next time. The Norvelles, who are from Virginia, left for SeaTac and the rest of us made our way back to Leavenworth.

With my RVing wherever and with the busy lives of children on either coast, our alternative to gift giving has helped us stay connected. We put all Christmas and birthday money into a bank account and the two-year accumulation pays for very special family gatherings somewhere in the U.S. These, plus e-mail, keep us close despite the miles. God Bless.

Autographed copies of Revised RVing Alaska and Canada ($16.95); Adventures with the Silver Gypsy ($14.95); Full-Time RVing: How to Make it Happen $14.95); In Pursuit of a Dream ($8), and Freedom Unlimited, The Fun and Facts of Full-timing ($9) are available through author Sharlene Minshall, Box 1040, Congress, AZ 85332-1040, www.full-time-rver.com or Amazon.com. Postage and handling are $4 for one book and $1 for each additional book.